The Association of General Contractors (AGC) and Construction Risk Partners recently honored this year’s best new and renovation construction projects with Build America Awards at the AGC Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Build America Merit Awards were also presented to construction companies at the convention.

“These awards are designed to set a new minimum standard of excellence for the construction industry,” said Tom Brown, AGC’s Vice President and President of Sierra Pacific West, Inc. in San Diego. “Considering what went into building these projects, that minimum standard is extremely high.”

For 41 years, the Build America Awards have recognized excellence in projects ranging across the building, highway and transportation, utility infrastructure, and federal and heavy industries. The projects are selected by a panel of judges comprised of contractors that look for projects excelling in: state-of-the-art advancement, project management, innovation in construction or use of materials, contribution to the community, client service, overcoming jobsite challenges, environmental sensitivity, and partnering excellence.

In the Construction Digest area, the following projects were awarded with 2023 Build America Awards.

Messer Construction Co. was presented with an award in the Building New or Renovation ($126 Million or More) category for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Critical Care Building in Cincinnati, Ohio. This LEED Silver-certified project includes a new building and more than 100,000 square feet of renovations to existing patient buildings. The new, $600 million Critical Care Building encompasses eight stories and 630,000 square feet and adds 249 private rooms, a pediatric emergency department triple its former size, a bone marrow transplant center, imaging services, and intensive care units.

“The Build America Award is a great honor and a celebration of the collaborative spirit shared by Messer and Cincinnati Children’s,” said Oliver Rhine, Senior Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer at Cincinnati Children's. “Working together, we can make a tremendous impact in service of our patients, families, employees, and community.”

The Messer team utilized multiple innovative solutions for the project, including target value design, virtual design and construction, augmented reality, 3D laser scanning, prefabrication (for 50 percent of the project), and a 12-bed mock-up facility. The 3-D laser scanning technology was used to ensure smooth execution and a perfect fit while connecting the Critical Care Building to a fully operational patient tower via a prefabricated 100-foot pedestrian bridge.

More than 35 percent of construction spending for the project was with minority- and women-owned business enterprises, and 27 percent of on-the-job personnel was diverse. Messer also created a workforce development initiative that provides paid construction training for residents of neighborhoods surrounding the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital campus, which resulted in 50 full-time careers for local minority residents.

“This prestigious recognition means a lot because the Critical Care Building has been such an impactful project for our company and for our community,” said Messer Vice President Pete Bergman. “Given our strong partnership with Cincinnati Children’s and our subcontractors, we finished ahead of schedule, despite the pandemic, while achieving our supplier diversity and workforce diversity goals.”

The Merit Award winner in the Construction Digest area was: Clearwater Construction & Management LLC in the Utility Infrastructure New category for the City of Lewiston WWTP 2020 Improvements in Lewiston, Indiana.